BBBBBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!

It's snowing still," said Eeyore gloomily." "So it is." "And freezing." "Is it?" "Yes," said Eeyore. "However, " he said,
brightening up a little, "we haven't had an earthquake lately." -A.A. Milne

It's cold. Have I mentioned this? Our tankless hot water heater is on the blitz. A real pain if you want say... a hot shower, a clean load of laundry.., but downright uncomfortable if you use radient floor heating. Since we do, this means no house heat, save our small stove which works great for taking the chill off. I have suffered stoicly now for more than a week. No more. I am cold to the bone. This issue would, naturally, coincide with a very, very cold cold spell. I can only dream of a piping hot bath to warm my toes. In typical Dickey fashion, we have created a game of this - to come up with the most creative "casual" reference to the cold without saying it is cold. That way we don't have to listen to ourselves walk around saying "It's cold!", which gets very boring after the first 7 times. Cold nerves are easier to tweak and lack patience. Almost everyone thinks they have the best most hilarious references, so we decided that you (our loyal readers) would decide! Take a moment to vote (poll is to the right). I regret that some of our more creative one have been forgotten... its too cold to think.

Speaking of loyal readers, my handy dandy magic map of viewers is showing me we have readers all over, some of which is accidental I'm sure... Not fair to keep up with us without us keeping up with you - drop us a line and let us know you were here! We love to hear from you!

It's cold, yet, but we haven't had an earthquake lately!
'til next post, ei

Timing is everything.. and our's is downright impecable... from diapers to braces, all in a couple of months!! We really weren't kidding when we said our diaper fund would become our orthodontics fund. We found a great orthodontist nearby that likes to correct teeth using the least expensive/invasive techiniques - I'm all for this. Caden's adult teeth simply cannot grow in because there isn't any room. He also has an overbite (anyone that knew me in days of yore knows his heritage). Dr. Solis was explaining to Caden and I that if given enough room his front teeth would naturally straighten out (and be able to come in!) when Caden asked "How many teeth do you plan on ripping out of my head?" Dr. just laughed because Caden was smart enough to figure out what "given enough room" meant. They will remove just 2 baby teeth, and he will get head gear in a year or so.

Ryland went to a chess tounament last Saturday. I have never been to one, and didn't know a thing about them so we looked it up online so we would be prepared. We found out when to shake hands, when to talk, that if you touch a piece you either have to move it or capture it. This specific tounament wasn't an elimination tournament so everyone would play all games whether they won or lost - it turns out that this is a good thing because the kids there were serious chess players. Ry won one game and lost two, and since it was such a long day they left before the last 2 games. The tournament started at 9:30 and wasn't set to end till 4:30. You must all give Kudo's to Brian because he had all the children by himself... He got them up, made lunches AND combed Rheanna's hair. I nominate him for the "superDad" award. Especially because I was off at a girls only slumber party... and it was Brian's birthday! I did make it up to him later by making him his favorite garlic lime shirmp.

'til next post, ei

Lila Visits

We love visitors!!! Lila, my Arizona cousin came up to see us. We had fun even though we were both fighting infections. Brian also loves Lila's visits because we both love to cook. The kids adore her because she will read endless books and play with them. It reminds me of the time I spent with my Mom's sister (Lila's Mom, Aunt Melanie), especially when Rheanna insisted that Lila comb her hair. I loved combing Lila's hair, and I combed it again for old times sake! We made grape jelly but ran out of time so we never got to make our p.j.'s... Guess you'll have to come again, Lila!
'til next post.
ei

One year from yesterday we confirmed that Caden had diabetes. I remember sitting with Caden in the emergency room cubicle and being given stacks of pamphlets to teach me how to care for Caden.. it was overwhelming. Yet here we are, no longer afraid to eat out, or eat a little sugar. Caden spouts off the carbs in foods and adds in his head. We have made an effort to focus on the positive. O.k, I admit, sometimes we have "I hate diabetes" parties, which Caden loves. We belly ache and eat ice cream and corn dogs or some other barely tolerable food, and complain about finger pokes, and getting up in the night, and set changes, and the constant relentlessness of diabetes. Then we grow tired of complaining and end the party appreciating insulin, and our nice Dr. (Barbara, and she looks exactly like a Barbie doll), and the insulin pump, and splenda. Science has come so far in the care of diabetes, from new kinds of insulin, better blood glucose meters, education, and insulin pumps. We have made new friends along this journey, and we have come to realize that diabetes, while still a chronic disease, is far from the worst thing that can happen to a child. Most days I feel so thankful it wasn't something worse.

History lesson time. Insulin was discovered in a lab at the University of Toronto in 1921. Until this discovery, diabetes was a death sentence, the sufferers eating voraciously yet wasting away. Some diabetics managed to live a few years by eating very low carb/sugar and high fat and protein diets. In 1922, teen aged Leonard Thompson was the first human injected with insulin and it was a spectacular success. We are hopeful for new discoveries and technologies for Caden's future!

Rheanna's pre-school is participation in the "healthy-strides", where a nutritionist comes into the class to teach about keeping your body healthy, including good food choices, hygiene, and exercise. I'm not sure if its because nutrition plays such a big role at home, but Rheanna takes all this to heart. One day they must have talked about "junk food" and Rheanna came home telling me all about "Rude food"- I had to laugh. Now we call it "grow" food and "rude" food.

We are all healthy, and hope you are too!
'til next post,
ei

Thank you for celebrating with us the end of an era. For 10 years (with a small break in between Caden and Rheanna) we have been changing diapers and potty training. I have a tiny suspicion that one day as our children become teenagers we will look back longingly on the "easy" days of dirty diapers. Our friends are just so willing to get silly with us. Silly it was (i'm not sure a more mature group could have pulled it off) We enjoyed kid food, mac and cheese, a veggie platter, wrapped smokies (they looked like they were wearing diapers) drum sticks, fruit juice jigglers, chocolate pudding, lemonade, and kitty litter cake. Russ presented us with an extremely clever plaque featuring a "Bronzed Diaper". We wacked the pinata, guessed how many fluid ounces a diaper could hold, (an amazing 37 ounces) played "feed the baby" (feeding each other chocolate pudding while blindfolded) and "pin the poop on the potty". And so, we ended ten years of diapers laughing with friends.

Please feel free to check out our hilarious potty party photos - just click on the "potty party pics" link near the top of this page and to your right.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! We had a great pre-new year's weekend visiting Becky and Chuck Holmquist. First, we ate lunch at the Holmquist's and then we headed out for some fun. We had originally planned to go to the zoo, but we decided we didn't want to get wet so we went swimming instead. The kids had a blast swimming... playing water tag and basketball. Rheanna went from being afraid to move from the steps to walking aroung in the pool! Then we took the kids back to the Holmquists and Brian and I went out to dinner... without kids! We ate at a Chinese buffet, the food was great, and we got to try lots of things - like sushi, frog legs, and desserts. The sushi was very tasty, and the desserts were not overly sweet so I enjoyed that. We went downtown and enjoyed perusing a neat bookstore before heading back. Meanwhile, the kids enjoyed playing at the Holmquists, hamburgers, chips, and banana splits! They declared the Holmquists the best sitters ever! Britt caught a bug and started throwing up in the night so we figured we'd ring in the new year being sick but nobody else got it.

Oh, yes, I almost forgot! Britt stayed at the house with Brian while the other kids and I went with Becky to Sunday morning meeting, and we made pizza when we got back. We stopped at Top Foods Grocery Store and they have a HUGE candy selection, and an entire section of sugar free stuff.. so we got a couple of things for Caden to have once in a while, and some for the school.

Upcoming Events:

Lila, (Ei's cousin) comes this Wednesday!

Dickey's Done With Diapers Celebration on Friday..

'til next post, ei